Joe Bear

I could see why it doesn't make sense. Probably because I don't do it. I'm high on a lot of the young players. But if folks think Tommy Tremble and XL are top-tier talent or they feel compelled to make excuses for them dropping passes or failing to get open while blaming the signal caller for their lack of performance, no amount of condescension can lay claim to the intellectual high ground.

So would most any offensive skill player with talent and experience.

Not if they can't catch or get open.

He was a crutch but I don't know where the better options were. Let XL drop it? Try an easy-to-cover Tremble? Find Coker wide open on the bench? Dump off to Hubbard short of the sticks?

Agreed but if the eighth overall pick WR can't step up and be a big player, there are bigger problems at play.

Thielen's age also makes him more conducive to injury, which doesn't make him the most reliable safety blanket when he's hurt. There is a WR on the team who can fill that role, though. And if all these picks on Young and these first-round WRs still can't get it done, hey, maybe there's a whole new nucleus.

I mean, the Panthers might have top-15 best odds for the NFC Championship. So it's not all bad.

I think it's fair to expect him to rage about every snap, possession, quarter, half, game, player, coach, signing, cut, draft pick and trade at this point.

Probably just excited to go back home. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. The food up there is far inferior to here but I can't speak for the driving.

I just don't think it was. Aging vet who can play, but wasn't going to want to go anywhere but Minn if not here.

I don't know that the Vikings are a contender. Generally whenever they're expected to be really good, they suck (source: my dad, who's been a Minnesota fan for more than 55 years). Probably just wanted to retire there and give it a shot one more time.

Probably. How many trades have the Panthers won the last five years? One?

Giving up Thielen, a conditional 7th AND a 2027 5th for: A 2026 5th A 2027 4th Not enthused, but basically getting him for a fourth and a pick swap. Not terrible I guess.

I haven't seen much of that, but I'm not on here as often as others. I think people relentlessly attacked the starting QB when he deserved it and when he didn't, and the now second-year WR who looked noticeably worse than the UDFA WR behind him on the depth chart probably deserved a good bit of criticism. I hope they both do a great job and I'm rooting for them. But I didn't see any unnecessary vitriol toward XL. People calling him out for looking unprepared and dropping important passes were stating facts.

And if anyone can spot tendencies, it's definitely the person who displays them more than anyone else.

I don't get the vitriol for Moore. Just pretend he committed to Clemson. He's a decent player for a WR6. If a game comes down to him or Renfrow, it's on whoever was ahead of them anyway.

As bad as he was, I was more impressed with Bryce as a rookie than XL as a rookie.

I’ll be able to tell my kid when she grows up that I saw Jack Plummer throw a touchdown pass in a preseason game

Some of them will come back if the team will ever win again. Big if, though.

Stanford probably should've won that game, all things considered. Not a great look for Reich.

That's where I'm at. Let's see what the lineup looks like on Sunday of Week 1.

I also understand that when you feel confident in a tackle you want to keep them, especially when left tackle is still a question mark.

Dan will probably regret that one in a year. He's still a good RT, but this was a Hurneyesque move of paying a guy for what he did three years ago.

Let's see after final cuts, waiver pickups, etc. Still a ways to week 1.

It actually was pretty fun. Last game I went to before tonight was a 27-0 loss, so actually seeing the Panthers score points for the first time since 2019 was cool. It was probably 65-35 Steelers fans but the vibes were good.